XL Surge Protected Distribution Boards

What are surges and how are they produced?
Surges are short-term high voltage impulses, other names being, transients, glitches and spikes, these show themselves for a very short duration of time, typically some micro seconds.
Remember, it doesn’t need a direct lightning strike on an installation to cause damaging voltage surges – a ground strike in the near vicinity is quite sufficient. Also remember there are many other sources of voltage transients, such as the starting of large motors and the switching of large capacitive and inductive loads. Common examples of internal switching events are a lift motor in a hotel or fluorescent strip lights being turned on or off.